Kathmandu, November 25

The National Planning Commission (NPC) is mulling over commencing long-delayed post-earthquake reconstruction works by extending a grant of up to Rs 200,000 each to owners of private houses destroyed by the earthquakes of April and May.

NPC Vice Chairman Yubaraj Khatiwada made the announcement today as the Planning Commission has now received the government mandate to oversee reconstruction works till the time of the formation of the National Authority for Reconstruction (NAR).

The Cabinet on October 9 approved a guideline for distribution of up to Rs 200,000 to owners of around 490,000 private houses destroyed by the quake.

As per the guideline, works related to reconstruction of private residential houses would be overseen by a seven-member steering committee led by the CEO of the NAR. However, in absence of the NAR CEO, the work would be overseen by the vice chair of the NPC, says the guideline.

Upon receipt of the grant amount, private house owners must build quake-resistant houses based on design approved by division offices or District Project Implementation Units of the Department of Urban Development and Building Construction. However, owners, who have acquired concessional loans of up to Rs 2.5 million from banks and financial institutions to build their houses damaged or destroyed by quakes, will not be eligible for the grant amount, says the guideline.

As per the guideline, the grant amount of Rs 200,000 would be extended in four instalments of 25 per cent, 30 per cent, 35 per cent and 10 per cent.

The first instalment should be used to build the foundation and plinth. The second instalment should be utilised to build the walls. The third instalment should be used to build the roof and carry out minor finishing works, and the fourth instalment should be utilised to build toilet and conduct remaining finishing works.

Each instalment would be released after technical experts oversee the progress during site visits, says the guideline.

Earlier, the NPC had said it would spend Rs 50 billion of Rs 74 billion allocated for the National Reconstruction Fund (NRF) for the current fiscal year.

Launching the annual budget in mid-July, the government had said Rs 74 billion would be transferred to the NRF this fiscal to rebuild structures damaged by quakes.

Although it has been more than four months since the budget was launched, very little money has been spent on reconstruction and rehabilitation due to political wrangling over establishment of the NAR.

This political bickering, in turn, has forced many people to stay in temporary shelters without proper arrangements of drinking water and sanitation facilities.